The Third Wheel
by everlovingdeer
Summary: When the hell did my feelings for Justin begin to wane and why had I not noticed it? The more important question was, when did those feelings grow for his bloody best friend?
1. The Third Wheel

Helga, how had I stooped so low?

Here I was, sat in the Three Broomsticks with my boyfriend's arm around my shoulder. The boyfriend that I'd been dating since the beginning of fourth year – almost for a year now. The boyfriend that I was supposed to be in love with, or feel some affection towards and yet, there was nothing there. Merlin, how had things gone so catastrophically awry?

Justin, realising that I was lost in my thoughts, reached out to poke my side. Snapping me from my thoughts, I smiled bashfully when I raised my eyes to his. "What's going on with you, Shepherd?"

I shifted a little uncomfortably at the affectionate call of my surname. "It's nothing Justin, I'm just lost in my thoughts."

Helga, if there was any of matter then I'd have turned for him to advice. Or even turn to Ernie for advice, out of the pair of them I _had_ known Ernie for longer. But how could I turn to either of them when they were both at the very root of my problems. Merlin's beard, how had I become one of _those_ girls? The girls who weren't in love with their boyfriend and had wandering eyes. Especially when those wandering eyes settled on their boyfriend's best friend!

Helga, when the hell did my feelings for Justin begin to wane and why had I not noticed it? The more important question was, when did those feelings grow for his bloody best friend? I just needed to think about what I was supposed to do now. It would all be easier if I could begin to fall in love with Justin all over again.

Obviously, I couldn't try anything on Ernie – not that I ever would – especially when I was currently dating. I wouldn't have tried anything even if I _wasn't_ dating someone; I'd never live down the embarrassment of confessing my feelings to someone who didn't return them.

I wasn't planning on making a move on Ernie, right now he wasn't my priority. My priority was handling Justin. Merlin, what was I supposed to do about Justin?

"Are you sure you're alright?" Justin questioned quietly, turning his concerned eyes on to me. The rest of the table continued to converse, unaware of our private conversation.

"I'm fine," I assured him, reaching out to pat his hand comfortingly. "I mean it."

He didn't look convinced but said nothing and turned back to the table. We watched as Hannah glanced down at her watch and rose to her feet with a sigh.

"I need to get going," she explained apologetically, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "I promised Professor Sprout that I'd help her out in the greenhouse so I need to get back to the castle."

"I'll walk you," Justin offered as he gathered his coat. He pressed a kiss to my temple as he rose to his feet and explained, "I need to talk to Professor McGonagall; I'll see you back at the castle?"

"See you then," I called out and watched the pair of them leave the pub and it was then that I realised that by the pair of them leaving I had been left alone with Ernie.

Clearing my throat, I reached for my glass and took a large gulp of my butterbeer. Ernie laughed at the gesture and raised an inquisitive eyebrow before shaking his head slightly.

"What are your plans for the coming Christmas holiday?" he asked, tracing the rim of his mug.

"The holiday's a while away," I said curiously, "my parents are going to see if they can arrange a portkey to go and visit my brother. If they manage it then I guess we'll be abroad for the Christmas holiday. Why?"

"Mum wants your family to come around to ours for the holiday," he explained, leaning back in his seat slightly. "She said something about not having seen your mum in a while."

"I'll write to mum and see what she says."

Not that I would ever tell Ernie, but I was secretly hoping that the application for the portkey would go through without a fuss. Maybe visiting my brother and getting away from Ernie was what I needed to get my feelings to cool? That way I wouldn't be so confused about everything. But if the application _wasn't_ approved then it was obvious that I'd end up around his during the holiday. Our mothers _were_ best friends and right now I actually wished that they weren't so close.

If they hadn't been so close then I wouldn't have needed to send so much time around Ernie and I wouldn't have inevitably fallen for him. This was all our mothers' faults.

* * *

The Hufflepuff quidditch team had managed to end our losing streak. It had taken a lot of extra training, especially since a lot of new members joined the team and I was one of them. But we had proven to the rest of the school that we weren't to be looked down on. But Helga, why had no one told me how tiring being on the team could be? My legs, although they were the part that was least in use during the game, were the part of my body that was aching the most.

Justin, once the game had ended and I had changed out of my uniform, had taken my hand and led me back to the common room where the afterparty was already in full swing. Zacharias, the newly appointed captain swept me into a giant hug the moment I stepped into the common room and I was still recovering from it when he thanked me for scoring so many goals during the match. Before I could say anything in response, he disappeared into the crowd.

Justin briefly left my side to get me a drink and when he returned I took it from him with an apologetic smile. "Being on a broom for so long has made me need to sit down."

"Why don't you go and rest for a bit," he suggested, looking across the common room. "Hannah's over there – I'll be with her if you need me."

"Ok," I said quietly, offering him my cheek when he leaned down for a kiss.

I walked away from him before he could comment on why I hadn't let him kiss me properly since we'd returned to school this year. Helga, I still had no idea what to do, I dismayed as I sat on one of the unoccupied sofas. Was I supposed to break up with him? Maybe I was but what excuse was I supposed to give him when he inevitably asked me why I had a change of heart? I couldn't very well tell him that I was in love with his best friend.

Said best friend settled down beside me, turning to give me a beaming grin. He clinked his glass against mine and took a long drink from whatever was inside it. Something told me that it wasn't pumpkin juice.

"Congratulations on the win," he grinned, "It was a good match."

"Thanks," I grinned back, "I was really worried about screwing the game up in some way."

"Well you didn't – if anything you extended the margin." He cast his eyes over the common room and watched as Justin and Hannah spoke quietly with secret grins, "Did Justin get round to congratulating you before he dragged you back here?"

I smiled carefully, as I had begun to do whenever someone brought up my boyfriend. "No, but then again he doesn't quite understand the point of quidditch. Says he thinks it's too violent."

"I wonder where he got that idea," Ernie commented dryly as one of the team's beaters limped past us. We shared a smile which faded slightly as I cleared my throat and turned away from him. My action had him sighing. "Look Shepherd, I've put it off for long enough now; why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not," I denied quickly, still not quite looking at him as I glanced briefly his way.

He narrowed his eyes for a moment before sighing again, "Fine, I'll drop it for now."

Turning my attention to him, I ribbed him lightly in an attempt to lighten the stifling atmosphere that had settled over us. "What's going on Macmillan? What's got you acting so unlike yourself?"

"We've been around each other since we were in the _womb_ ," he scoffed, "I like to think that I know you better than anyone else and Helga knows, one thing I learned a _long_ time ago was when to not push for an answer."

"Aw Ernie," I cooed, reaching out to teasingly pull his cheek, "you're all grown up."

I stilled halfway through the motion when he brought his eyes to mine with a raised eyebrow and my heart did that stupid pounding it always did around him. Hurriedly dropping my hand, I turned my eyes away from him and looked back to Justin who was being dragged unwillingly by Hannah towards the people who were dancing in the corner. Ernie let out an incredulous laugh when Justin began to dance in a way that could only be called a wiggle and Susan, wandering over to the pair of them keeled over in laughter.

"She has a way of making people give in to her will," I muttered with a disbelieving laugh, "Merlin knows I'd have never been able to get him to do that."

* * *

The Christmas holiday was rapidly approaching and we had only a week left until we boarded the train to return home. My prayers had been answered and our portkey application was approved of meaning that we were spending the holiday in France – far away from the Macmillan family. It was the distance that I needed to sort my feelings out.

I promised myself that by the time I returned to Hogwarts, after the holiday, I would have gotten over Ernie and would have sorted everything out with Justin as well. Not that he would appreciate me for it, but I had decided that before we separated for the holiday I was going to break up with Justin. It was the right thing to do. However actually doing so was going to be difficult.

We had agreed to exchange presents today as Hannah was planning on leaving the school early and would be collected from school tomorrow. The gift exchange had begun at breakfast time and I had grinned thankfully at Justin as he presented me with a new journal and notebook set. Because I knew the end was coming for us, I was trying to put some distance between us and hesitated when he offered his cheek to me. Leaning towards him, I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and backed away from him just as quickly. Rummaging through my bag, I waited for him to turn away from me.

When he eventually did so, I let myself straighten up and blinked in surprise when a wrapped package was presented to me. Taking the package from Ernie with a thankful grin, I unwrapped it carefully and looked down at the scarf. I chuckled, turning to Ernie with a raised eyebrow when I found him blushing.

"Was this what you spent the last few months knitting?" I questioned gleefully and my smile only grew when he cleared his throat and turned his head away from me.

"It's just a scarf," he grumbled under his breath and I stifled a smile when his ears reddened under my eyes.

"Aw Ernie," I cooed, pulling gently at his cheek, "you're so cute."

"How many times am I going to have to tell you that I'm not cute," he protested, removing my hand from his cheek.

"You're right," I nodded solemnly, "you're downright adorable."

He let out an incredulous laugh before giving up his pretence of irritation. Grinning widely, he met my eyes and I could have sworn that I felt my heart skip a literal beat. Helga, why wouldn't the bloody thing listen and operate normally? Clearing my throat, I looked away from him and paid no heed to the concerned glance he shared with Susan who was sat across from us.

"There's something on your mind, isn't there?" he asked quietly once we had all exchanged our gifts and had started to eat. "Do you feel like sharing your concern with me?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about," I insisted, avoiding his stare as I helped myself to some porridge. "Really Ernie, it's nothing."

He made a disbelieving sound but turned back to his own food. Justin, sat on my other side, was busy conversing with Hannah who was telling him about some crazy dream she'd had last night and I tried to listen to her words but my mind kept wandering, as it had started to do for a long time now. Merlin, once everything was sorted out then I was certainly going to have less to worry about.

Susan let out a scrambled gasp, choking slightly on her mouthful of food. She was pointing wildly to something even as she coughed and Zacharias rolled his eyes and patted her back.

"Chew, swallow and _then_ talk, Bones," he muttered dryly.

She shot him a foul glare but did as he said. When she had finished her mouthful, she pointed in the space above mine and Ernie's head. "Mistletoe!"

I looked skyward and sure enough, floating the space between mine and Ernie's head was a sprig of mistletoe. Ernie looked curiously upwards too and we awkwardly met each other's eyes. Justin laughed good-naturedly from behind me.

Reaching past me, he patted Ernie on the back, "The bleeding mistletoe won't leave until you kiss her mate, you've got my permission."

Ernie briefly met his best friend's eyes with a cautious smile. "I don't think it's _your_ permission that I need." Looking back to me, he raised an eyebrow and spoke hesitantly, "So?"

"Get it over with," I said in a voice that was much calmer than I felt. Secretly, I wanted to run away from this situation. I didn't want my boyfriend to see my kiss his best friend – the same best friend that was the reason I was going to leave him. But even more secretly I wanted to kiss Ernie because damn it, even though I shouldn't have, I had fallen for the bastard. Clearing my throat, I muttered, "Justin's right; it's the only way to get rid of the mistletoe."

Ernie hesitated for only a second before he leaned closer to me and I resolutely forced my eyes to stay open. They only widened in shock when he pressed a kiss that was too close to my mouth to be counted as him kissing my cheek, and yet it wasn't close enough to my mouth to count as being a real kiss. Nevertheless, the mistletoe disappeared with a small pop.

He pulled back abruptly and breakfast resumed as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened. If anyone noticed that both Ernie and I were quieter than normal, they didn't comment on it.

* * *

With Hannah planning to leaving tomorrow, I decided that it was the right time to share my concerns with my dormmates. They always gave me the best advice and didn't hesitate to tell me when I was being a right idiot. Goodness knows I should have approached them much earlier about this but truthfully, I hadn't wanted any of them to judge me. But I trusted these four girls to keep my words as a secret. And so, as I stepped into the common room, I had gestured for the girls to follow me up to our dorm room. They all knew that meant that one of us needed to talk and promptly made excuses to follow me up.

I was sitting on my bed, waiting for them to enter the room and one by one they all walked in and settled down on my bed. Megan was the last one to enter the room, shutting the door behind her.

"The boys have no idea what's going on," she reassured us but turned to face Hannah. "But Ernie said to remember that you've got rounds later on."

"He's not even the one I have rounds with," Hannah complained as Megan sat down on the bed too.

And once they were all seated, all the girls turned their eyes to me, waiting for me to speak. I thought carefully over my words and let out a deep sigh.

Leanne called my name cautiously, making me raise my eyes to hers, "Is everything ok?"

"Truthfully?" I shook my head, "No and they haven't been for a while."

"What's going on?" Susan reached out to give my hand a comforting squeeze. "You can trust us."

"That's why I called all of you up here," I confessed, looking over them. "Things between Justin and me have been stilted and they've been like that for a while now – since we returned to school."

The girl stilled, startled by my confession. Megan was the first one to speak up, always the voice of reason who tried to root out the cause of any issue so we could deal with it head on.

"Why do you think that is?" She frowned, "Has he said something or –"

"It's all my fault," I replied truthfully, lowering my eyes to my hands as I buckled under the weight of their stares.

"Of course it isn't," Hannah said weakly, clearing her throat.

"It really is," I insisted and took a deep breath, "I – well I don't like him anymore."

My confession rendered the four of them silent. None of them made a single movement and I made myself lift my head to see the way they were reacting. And like I hoped, there was no blame or resentment on any of their faces. Instead they were waiting for some sort of explanation but there wasn't really any I could offer them.

"Is there someone else?" Susan asked directly, pinning me with her stare.

I averted my eyes, ashamed as I nodded yes. One of them took a sharp intake of breath but I decided to get it all out in the open. If I had gotten this far then I might as well have told them anything.

"I started to like someone else and before I even knew it I didn't like Justin anymore," I confessed, staring at my hands, "You guys have no idea just how long I spent trying to push these stupid feelings away and to hide them but I can't do it anymore. It's not fair; not to me, to Justin or to… the other person."

"And when are you planning on breaking up with Justin then?" Megan piped up.

"I'm going to break up with him before we leave for the holidays." Running a distressed hand through my hair, I cleared my throat, "Helga, he's always been so sweet to me and I could never imagine hurting him like this. He'll be so upset and I don't even know how I'm going to get the courage to tell him the truth."

"But you know that you need to, don't you?"

"Yeah I do."

"And what are you going to tell Ernie then?" Leanne asked, leaning towards me.

"Ernie?" I bluffed, "Why would I need to tell Ernie?"

"Well he's the other person, isn't he?" she asked, looking to the rest of our dormmates. "He's the only person who could steal you away from Justin – without any of you noticing."

"I'm not going to tell him a thing."

* * *

It turned out that actually getting round to breaking up with Justin was something that I would continue to put off until one of the girls had interfered. Helga, it wasn't something that I was looking forward to doing so could I really be blamed for putting it off for another day or two? But, with the last day of term only days away, Susan had taken matters into her own hand and told Justin that I needed to speak to him. He had approached me as the common room began to clear for the night and we were only of the few students left in it.

We were both silent as I tried to think of the best way to do this. Maybe I could leave the whole falling for someone else malarkey out? Technically it wasn't a lie and it was more likely to mean he was less hurt by my announcement. Right?

With a deep breath, I decided to just wing it.

"There's something I need to say."

We had both spoken at the same time and I cleared my throat, looking away from him for a moment. Justin gestured for me to speak first and bit my bottom lip. Honesty was the best policy.

"We need to break up," I confessed quietly, fidgeting with my fingers as I tried to gauge his reaction. So far there had been nothing more than a tight swallow. Reaching out to hold his hand, I gave it a comforting squeeze as if that would lessen the blow of my next words, "I think I'm falling in love with someone else."

Pulling his hand out of mine, Justin shuffled in his seat. "It's Ernie, isn't it?"

I could do nothing more than nod slowly, shamefully avoiding his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I don't know how or when it happened but before I knew it, I – I didn't like you in the same way anymore."

"Don't apologise, you don't need to." He looked hesitantly back to me, letting out a deep breath as he ran a hand over his face. "There's something I need to tell you as well."

"Go on," I prompted gently when he cut himself off abruptly. "Justin, whatever it is, you can tell me –"

"I feel like I owe you an apology too." He began to fidget nervously with his tie, "I kissed Hannah."

My eyes widened slightly; that had _not_ been what I had been expected him to confess. Quite what I had expected, I didn't know but it certainly wasn't that. But Justin was looking at me carefully, studying each of my reactions so I managed my expression carefully.

I couldn't help myself and asked quietly, "When?"

He let out a deep breath, "Do you remember the last-minute practice you had before the quidditch match against Gryffindor? It happened… then." I was silent, wondering how I was supposed to react. Merlin, I was breaking up with him because I didn't like him anymore but here he was telling me that he'd cheated on me. But was it really cheating if I didn't like him and it had been the once? It _had_ been the once, right?

"Did – did it happen more than once?" He looked away from me and that was the only answer I needed. " _Wow_."

"I shouldn't have cheated on you with Hannah or with anyone, I know that but –"

"What the fuck do you mean you cheated on her?" Ernie's voice demanded loudly, bringing silence to the common room.

I jumped slightly at the volume, scanning the common room and finding Ernie walking towards us. He had clearly returned from his rounds and had only managed to catch the end of our conversation. Stalking towards us, he narrowed his eyes on Justin and before either Justin or I could say anything, he had thrown a stinging hex straight at Justin.

I shrieked in surprise, stepping between the two of them to do some damage control. The girls, who had piled out of our dorm room at Ernie's exclamation, hurried into the common room. Leanne and Megan struggled to pull a raging Ernie away from Justin. Ernie resisted, fisting at Justin's robes and dragging him towards him as if to forgo hexing him in exchange for landing a physical blow on him. The girls eventually managed to drag him away.

"Merlin Ernie," Susan hissed as she came to Justin's side, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Ask him," he hissed as I stood futilely between the pair of them. Justin raised his fingers his cheek where he had been hexed, "ask that piece of shit what he did."

Susan called my name quietly, wanting an explanation of the situation. I shook my head slowly, keeping my eyes on Ernie who, after meeting my eyes, was beginning to calm down.

"Are you alright Justin?" I asked, looking to him. He nodded hesitantly. "Good, get to your dorm."

He listened to my orders without a word of complaint. The girls stepped hesitantly away from Ernie and maybe they shouldn't have as he moved to follow after Justin. I stepped in his way and gestured for him to sit down.

"If you think that I'm going to let him get away with it, then you're mad," he warned as he took a seat.

"Let me explain everything to you," I insisted, sitting down beside him and watching the girls head towards our dorm. I'd have to explain everything to them later but the first thought that occurred to me was that I was glad Hannah had gone home early.

"Well?" Ernie demanded, "You said you were going to explain. Although nothing you say is going to make me regret hexing him."

"Merlin Ernie," I complained, reaching out to set a hand on his knee, "I'm trying really hard here to not be pleased that you'd hex someone for me. Why did you hex him anyway?"

"Because he's a cheating piece of trash," Ernie exclaimed, looking at me incredulously. "How are you so calm about this? Shouldn't you be distraught? Or going after Justin? Or doing something other than talking to me?"

"Look Ernie, we were just breaking up." I hesitated before admitting, "Both Justin and I were at fault for the breakdown of our relationship. So, you shouldn't just do after Justin."

He narrowed his eyes at me, barely resisting the urge to glare at me. "Did you cheat on him? No, you didn't."

"I might as well have," I muttered uncomfortably.

* * *

Ernie's anger hadn't cooled even as we boarded the train home. He was a right drama queen who claimed he was showing the appropriate reaction to the news that I'd been cheated on and that _I_ was the one showing the abnormal reaction. The girls though, didn't quite know how to react and they'd admitted as much to me after I had filled them in. They asked me if I wanted them to freeze Justin and Hannah out but truthfully, that was far too melodramatic for me and if I was being honest, Justin's confession hadn't hurt me as much as it should've.

As I walked through the train alongside Ernie, looking for a carriage, I spied Susan and Leanne ducking into a carriage further ahead. They gestured us over and I pointed towards them.

"They're up ahead," I said to Ernie who followed after me.

When we arrived at the carriage, I saw Megan conversing awkwardly with Justin and went to head inside. She had been the one to owl Hannah and tell her what had happened.

Ernie clamped a hand on my arm, stopping me from entering the carriage. He declared loudly, loud enough for Justin to hear, that we were going to find another empty carriage. I went to protest but sighed when he narrowed his eyes at me and told me to silently follow him. Before I could rebuke him for trying to tell me what to do, the rational voice in my mind suggested that this was perhaps the best chance to get him to calm down.

When we found an empty carriage, a few compartments ahead of the one we had just left, I placed my trunk in the overhead storage. Shutting the compartment door, I leaned against it and turned to look at Ernie who was watching me closely.

"Will you stop being a drama queen," I pleaded, pushing away from the door to sit down across from him, "anyone would think Justin cheated on _you._ "

"Do you even listen to yourself?" He raised an eyebrow, "It's all there in your works, he _cheated_ on you, you broke up with your boyfriend and you're acting as if nothing happened."

"Well what else am I supposed to do?" I threw back, "Do you want me to break down in tears and cry that my world is ending? Do you want me to crawl on my knees before him and beg him to take me back, to tell me that Hannah meant nothing to him and that I'll take him back regardless?" He looked away uncomfortably at my words, "I thought not."

"You're so bloody confusing."

"Look Ernie, I don't understand how many times I need to tell you this, but breaking up was a mutual decision we made. Even if he hadn't have done what he did, even if I'd never found out about it, we'd have still needed to break up because I couldn't keep doing that to him."

"Doing what to him?" Leaning back in his seat, he waited expectantly and I rolled my bottom lip into my mouth for a moment.

"I have feelings for someone else," I confessed after a moment's silence.

"Who?" he demanded.

I shook my head and admitted, "I'm not ready to confront myself about those feelings yet. Just do me a favour and go back to treating Justin in the way you used to?"

"I don't understand you," he stated with a shake of his head.

"And you don't need to." Crossing my arms, I levelled him a flat look, "You and Justin are best friends –"

" _Were_ best friends."

Rolling my eyes, I decided to ignore his interruption. "He's the person you were closest with in the entire house, probably the entire school so don't go and freeze him out like this. Merlin, the pair of you are going to be dormmates for the rest of your time at Hogwarts. Besides, it's not like he's your only dormmate. Zacharias might deserve to live in the awkwardness for a while but don't go and expose poor Wayne to all of that."

"And what about Hannah then?"

"Treat her the same way." I spied the trolley lady walking past our carriage. "If I can do that, then so can you."

"You really are one of a kind, Shepherd."

* * *

The first time I saw Hannah after the 'incident' as Ernie liked to call it, had been on the train back to Hogwarts. I had walked into the carriage and found her talking awkwardly to the girls who weren't sure how to behave. Vaguely I realised that Justin and Hannah were sitting as far apart from each other as they could have been within the small carriage. Ernie had walked into the carriage behind me and he had wanted to find another carriage when he realised who was inside it. It took a single fierce glare for him to settle inside the carriage and remain there until we reached Hogwarts. I went out of my way to talk to Hannah, making sure she realised things were fine between us and by the time we reached the school, she had relaxed in my presence.

She had relaxed even further by the time our dormmates crowded the sofas in the common room after the welcoming feast. We were chilling out in front of the fireplace as Megan told us about the 'mega creepoid' she'd met during the holiday and how her older brother had to hex him to get him to leave her alone.

"And _that_ is how a single creep ruined most of my holiday," she concluded with a roll of her eyes. "I can't wait until I can perform magic outside of Hogwarts – the next time I see him, I'm sending a hex his way."

"I'd do the same," Susan confessed as she turned her eyes to me, "What happened between you and Ernie over the holiday?"

"Me and Ernie?" I repeated with a frown, "Nothing. We rarely saw each other throughout the entire holiday – my family went to visit my brother in France?"

"That's not what I meant," she confessed with a sigh.

"She means why aren't you and Ernie together you?" Leanne piped up, making me look to her with a frown.

"Because I haven't told him anything yet," I shrugged and the four of them shared an incredulous look. "It's probably best that I don't tell him that I like him. Helga, can you imagine how embarrassing that situation would be? He'd probably tell me to get a grip and snap out of it."

"And what if I didn't?" he piped up from behind the sofa I was sitting one.

I screwed my eyes shut for a moment before looking back at him to find him standing behind the sofa, staring down at me with a smirk. Helga.

Turning back to the girls, I saw the sly grins they tried to hide. The bloody cows had seen he was there and had decided to interfere. At my glare, they all rose to their feet and hurried to the stairs to hide away in our dorm. I was tempted to follow after them, but Ernie had placed his hands on my shoulders to stop me from standing.

When the girls had all left us alone, he walked round the sofa to sit beside me. I shuffled away from him, maintaining some distance between us and he had the nerve to grin at me.

"Why are you backing away from me now?" he asked, eyebrows raised in amusement, "Isn't this the part where you're supposed to throw yourself into my arms?"

"You have an awful habit of eavesdropping," I muttered, turning away from him.

"Well you have an awful habit of running away from things that you're supposed to confront," he countered, sliding closer to me.

I moved further away, grimacing when I hit the arm of the sofa and couldn't move further. He took the chance to move closer to me, pressing next to me in an instant. Looking back to him, I eyed him cautiously and waited for him to say something.

He spoke carefully then, his smile growing more serious as he asked, "Do you have any idea how devastated I was when you started dating Justin?"

"I – what?"

"I felt like such a creep," he continued smoothly. "Fancying my best mate's girlfriend wasn't something I was proud of doing."

"What?" I questioned, not quite believing what he was saying. If he was telling the truth then I should've noticed by now. And because I hadn't noticed, then I could only assume that he was fibbing. Right?

"I've fancied you for years now, you daft mare," he muttered affectionately, leaning towards me as if to kiss me. I pushed him away before he could. He frowned, looking at my hands which were pushing at his chest, "What?"

"If you think I'm going to let you kiss me after you just called me a daft mare, then you've got another thing coming."


	2. Epilogue: 5 Years Later

_5 YEARS LATER_

When I apparated into the garden of the Macmillan family home, I was greeted by Ernie's mother as she walked towards me, an infant settled on her hip. I squinted slightly against the glare of the sun, but grinned as I crossed the garden to approach the older woman who welcomed me with a grin.

"Sorry I'm late," I apologised, holding my arms out for the one year old who went easily into my arms and began to play with my hair. Smiling down at him, I juggled him on my hip slightly.

"Don't worry about it," Mrs Macmillan grinned back at me as we began to walk towards the terrace where the rest of the family were waiting. From here I could see my parents talking to Ernie's and I rolled my eyes; I could see Ernie trying to kiss up to my dad. He really didn't need to be doing that; dad loved him already – not that he'd ever tell Ernie that. "Christian's running late from work, too. His wife's not happy."

With those words Mrs Macmillan headed to comfort her eldest daughter-in-law who was visibly upset by her husband having to work late. Then again, Christian _was_ a workaholic who sometimes needed to be reminded that he had a wife and family waiting for him. Helga help him if he didn't turn up for his mother's 'garden party', he'd never hear the end of it. And the rest of the family would hear her grumbling for at least the next month. It was really in everyone's best interests for him to turn up.

I felt a soft tug of my hair and looked to the young boy cradled against me. He blinked up at me, grinning when he met my eyes. Giggling slightly, I shifted my hold on him to blow a raspberry on his cheek. He shrieked with laughter.

"Did you miss me, sweetheart?" I questioned in what Ernie liked to call my baby voice. The baby in question blinked up at me like he could understand my question before breaking out into beaming grin. Cuddling him against me, I said happily, "I'm taking that as a yes."

"You know," Ernie called out as he finally pulled himself away from my father's side to approach me. He pressed a kiss to my cheek, meeting baby Johnny's eyes from over my shoulder and sharing a wink with the young boy. Johnny reached a sticky hand towards Ernie who shook it slowly, and turned his eyes onto me, "It's really not fair that he prefers you to me."

"And why is that?" I shot back, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Ernie grinned, pressing another kiss to my cheek.

"Isn't it obvious?" He stepped around me, holding his hands out for Johnny. Looking between Ernie and me, Johnny shook his head slightly and burrowed further into me. Ernie's expression fell playfully as he stuck his tongue out at the child. "He's _my_ nephew, Shepherd. Not yours."

"Like that means anything," I retorted as I headed towards my parents and he followed alongside me, "He prefers me to you; blood uncle or not."

"That's because he has good taste in women." Ernie nudged my shoulder with his, "Just like his uncle."

"Oh please." Rolling my eyes, I smiled thankfully when he poured me a glass of lemonade. "Stop trying to kiss up to me; I know what you're after."

He smiled innocently at me, pulling out a chair for me to sit in. Eyeing him suspiciously, I turned my eyes onto the cutest member of the Macmillan family who was settled on my lap. Johnny looked round the garden table at the adults who were cooing and reaching towards him. He grinned at the attention, reaching out to take his grandfather's hand. I shifted him off to Mr Macmillan and turned my gaze onto Ernie who was making himself comfortable at my side.

My eyebrows rose in surprise when he began to butter up my dad by filling his glass before he couls ask for a refill. Helga I shook my head incredulously; I still had no idea why he was forcing this so much. Sometimes he was too much.

"I don't know why you're trying to get my dad's permission," I muttered to him. Ernie turned to me and shrugged innocently under my eyes. I raised an eyebrow; not believing it for a second. "My permission matters more than my dad's does. Even if you manage to get Dad's permission, it doesn't mean a thing if I say no."

He leaned in closer to me, brushing his nose against mine as he cajoled, "We've been dating for ages already."

"And?"

"And we've never been on a holiday together," he whined.

"Oh please," I retorted with narrowed eyes, seeing right through him, "that's a lie and we both know it."

"On our own," he insisted quietly, "Give me one reason."

"Let's not forget that I started my new job not long ago – I can't exactly disappear with you for a while."

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure."

"I don't have one," I responded flatly, reaching out to push some of his hair from his forehead. "I just don't get why you're pushing this so much." He avoided my eyes and I watched him with new enlightenment. Merlin, surely he wouldn't – I felt my chest grow tight at even the thought of him proposing. "Surely you're not planning to –"

He knew what I meant instantly and started slightly, shaking his head quickly, "Of course not."

"Good," I nodded slowly, keeping my eyes on him. The tightness in my chest eased and I felt like I could breathe again. Until –

"What if I _was_ going to … to do _that_?"

I cleared my throat awkwardly, raising my glass to my mouth. "Firstly, we're _way_ too young for the whole marriage and kids thing –"

"We've been dating almost five years –"

"We're only 20 bloody 1!"

"Fine," he grumbled under his breath, pouting like _he_ was the child. Really, he was only proving my point. He looked up suddenly, meeting my eyes with a frown, "Then you'd better have no plans of dumping me until you decide you're ready. You're bloody well stuck with me now."

I pulled a face, pretending to be horrified, "Helga, you should have told me and I'd have dumped you sooner."

He turned away with a huff, clearing not appreciating my joke.


End file.
